Stop the money first. The investigation comes after.

Call the bank or brokerage right away and tell them you believe your parent is being financially exploited. Ask them to stop or reverse any pending transfers and to review recent activity. Washington law lets a bank refuse to release funds when it reasonably suspects exploitation of a vulnerable adult, for up to five business days, or ten if a securities sale is involved, and the bank then reports to Adult Protective Services and the police. Get the case number and the representative's name. If the first person cannot help, ask for the fraud-department supervisor.

Free, and it stops new accounts being opened in their name. Each bureau separately. Equifax 1-800-685-1111, Experian 1-888-397-3742, TransUnion 1-888-909-8872, or online. A freeze goes on within one business day and you can lift it within an hour when needed. Save the PINs.

Call the local non-emergency police line and file a financial-fraud report. Some banks need that case number to reverse a charge. Then file at IdentityTheft.gov, the FTC's site, which generates an identity-theft report and a recovery plan that banks and creditors accept as evidence.

Call Washington Adult Protective Services at 1-877-734-6277 (TTY 1-833-866-5595), statewide, with online intake any time, and anonymous reports accepted. They will not stop the transfers, the bank just did that, but they document the case, connect your parent to support, and watch for repeat patterns. If your parent lives in a licensed facility and a staff member is involved, also call the Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 1-800-562-6028 and the state licensing line at 1-800-562-6078.

Scammers often get back in within hours. Reset the email and bank passwords. Remove any phone numbers or alert contacts the scammer added. If they came in through a shared email account, separate the accounts. Ask the bank to remove any new payees or transfer instructions added recently.